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20 Total tools, Heel Irons, Edge Irons, Waist Irons (17) and wooden Slide Box (3). Majority of name brand is J Schmidt & Son (all the metal tools). $300.00

Hello. I am completely new to leatherworking and I want to make some shoes. I could use a bit of guidance regarding tools and such. Can anybody estimate the size/type of thread/needles/awl for the more decorative stitching in this next video, even a rough guess? https://youtu.be/iHwE9C_3MUo?t=45 Starts at 45 seconds. Another video with similar tools here, at 7:31. https://youtu.be/IG02Iwl2kt4?t=451 The awls seem especially difficult to find. Any advice welcome. Thanks! -Aaron

This took me several months to get started with so many many delays and a multitude of reasons. I Seriously wanted to learn how to make shoes. The very sad truth is that, there's no school around my region that teaches this, and the only two craftsman i know who makes shoes well, one of them closed his shop and is gone, the other man is about to close his shop and is not willing to teach. So i had to learn everything that is reachable from the web. The problem with this is that, not everyone tells you what you need to know, and me being so ardent jumped straight into buying the only shoe last i could find. the seller had no idea about the lasts and she thought the last was ok for me. What she didn't know is that the last is for a female shoe. But then i happened to have a girlfriend and i was needing to give her a gift. I then thought of making her shoes. This is my output. the entire shoe is handmade - handstitched and without anyone to teach me, i steered a little bit away from the orthodox methods. I dont know if its typical for womens shoes to use the goodyear welt, and since i wanted it made in a way that it wouldn't make her foot look wide. So i did the stitching like that of the Blake welt - done my hand. there's a lot to be desired on this first build. some uneven parts on the shoe and some parts which could have been done better. these will have its own laces when she starts wearing these. She selected the design from the internet and we changed it a bit with the choice of leather. Sadly I couldn't put any more linings on it since the suede is thick. and i had to put a toe stiffener on. If anyone wants to see how i got to this point, please do say so. i have some more pictures

Hello guys, my first post here! I am a complete novice to the leatherwork/sewing field and I am looking for some advice here. I would greatly like to get into the reconstruction of Nike's/Jordans especially, completely redoing the upper of the shoe with premium materials such as python, lamb/pig skin and eventually leather. I have been doing a TON of research but when it comes down to finding a machine Google just isnt good enough, i need help from a real person with some experience. (PLEASE VIEW WHAT IM TRYING TO DO HERE: https://instagram.com/JBFcustoms OR www.jbfcustoms) I am looking for a starter machine to do this stuff with. Through constant research I have found that one of the top reconstruction artist linked above uses both a flat bed and a post bed with a roller foot. I personally cannot afford 1 machine really, let alone 2, so I am looking for something that is good enough to get me through my trial and error stage and help me make some profit to purchase a better machine! I have looked up several diff kinds of machines... Post, flat, teflon, cylinder, walking etc etc, but its all like a foreign language to me. I would like my first machine to be able to handle at least 3,4 oz of leather as well as the python and pig/lamb skin material. So far the cheapest post bed Ive found is a Yamata 810 at about $600. I have heard that some machines can come with attachments to make in into a flat, which would be great since that post has that 7" stand, which would make it difficult to sew the material together before actually putting it on the shoe... Can somebody lead me in the right direction?! Im located in Ohio... THANK YOU!!!

Hey guys, im going to start making some wallets and have a question on thread. I'm going to buy some Hermann oak veg tan and machine stitch some card holders. I have a consew 206rb. I'm wanting to get 138 thread in a natural color to go along with the color of the vegtan, but so far I've only been finding poly and not nylon (in natural color). I've read what they're both used best for, but I just want to know that my consew can in fact sew out poly?? Also, can natural poly thread hold dye? I'll be doing some patinas eventually as well. Also, does anyone have tips on how I can make sure my stitches look good on the back as well as the front? I've never sewn anything over v69. Pic is for reference, it's not my work, just the finish I'll be looking for! Thanks!

Hey guys, long time no talk! Been ghost the past few months but I've made considerable progress in my sewing and shoemaking ventures. Photos to follow in another post! Anyway, I have a Consew 206rb. After having my machine for over 6 months, I up and decided to change out my needle, as I thought maybe it was dull and could help me avoid the occasional skipped stitch. Low and behold, I had been stitching everything with a size 22 organ needle! Now, I wasn't too upset about this, as all my work up until that point looked fairly decent. The issue comes in when I input a size 16 needle, which from my understanding is the correct needle for sewing leather, which is what I do pretty exclusively. Smaller needle = smaller hole, which gives a cleaner looking stitch. I thought I was winning, until the needle refused to actually "stitch". I'm using white 69 bonded nylon thread on some white cow leather about 3oz thick. The needle is feeding in the upper tension and the bobbin, but it's not locking the stitch, so when I stop sewing, there is just holes in my leather but no thread, on the top or bottom. Even more interesting, when I went to see on a different piece of scrap Horween leather about the same thickness, it worked fine! Any ideas on why this is? Does my needle really just not like this leather, or should I be making an adjustment somewhere? Stitching about 8 spi. Attached a photo of the leather I'm sewing with the size 22 needle just to give you an idea of what it looks like. Thanks

Hello guys, my first post here! I am a complete novice to the leatherwork/sewing field and I am looking for some advice here. I would greatly like to get into the reconstruction of Nike's/Jordans especially, completely redoing the upper of the shoe with premium materials such as python, lamb/pig skin and eventually leather. I have been doing a TON of research but when it comes down to finding a machine Google just isnt good enough, i need help from a real person with some experience. (PLEASE VIEW WHAT IM TRYING TO DO HERE: https://instagram.com/JBFcustoms OR www.jbfcustoms) I am looking for a starter machine to do this stuff with. Through constant research I have found that one of the top reconstruction artist linked above uses both a flat bed and a post bed with a roller foot. I personally cannot afford 1 machine really, let alone 2, so I am looking for something that is good enough to get me through my trial and error stage and help me make some profit to purchase a better machine! I have looked up several diff kinds of machines... Post, flat, teflon, cylinder, walking etc etc, but its all like a foreign language to me. I would like my first machine to be able to handle at least 3,4 oz of leather as well as the python and pig/lamb skin material. So far the cheapest post bed Ive found is a Yamata 810 at about $600. I have heard that some machines can come with attachments to make in into a flat, which would be great since that post has that 7" stand, which would make it difficult to sew the material together before actually putting it on the shoe... Links to a machine that can do this?? Links to machines in this price range period? Can somebody lead me in the right direction?! Im located in Ohio... THANK YOU!!! (posted this in a leatherwork thread as well, im new to the site lol)